To the Fathers in Our Livesl

It's Father's Day. I hope you know that none of us would  be here without you!

My children have been without their father for six years now, my own father has been gone for nearly 25 years. On days like this one we can cherish their memories, but we miss them terribly. Still. I know that there are some of you out there who have lost a father too and that you too are missing them today. Losses come in many ways. Through death, through family breakups, through difficult illnesses like altzheimers. They all leave a big hole in our lives.

So to all of the fathers in my life and in yours I would like to say, Never forget how valuable you are. Know your worth. There is a little boy or girl in your life who thinks you hung the moon. Feel your heart swell, love that, and do your very best to live up to that dream. Even on the days when you know you may have fallen short, when that darn moon just keeps slipping and won't hang straight, remember, there are no bad father's in their eyes. Children are the most forgiving of all of us and you still shine for them.

Cherish your daughters. Allow them to enter young womanhood with all the confidence in themselves you can give them. Make sure they always know how valuable they are in your eyes and that no one they meet along the way can ever diminish that. My father did that. He had two girls.We were his princesses even when we fell far short of expectations. Our tiaras slipped many times, a diamond or two got lost in the dirt of real life, but he was always there to dust off the gold and restore our faith in ourselvers. He made sure we always knew our worth.

Hug your sons. They need the hugs as much as you do, as much as all the women in your life need them. Love them honestly and with understanding. Allow them to enter manhood as confident, strong and loving men, able to extend the love you've shown them, to their own children.

And don't sweat the small stuff. They haven't made a perfect dad yet - or a perfect mom. So none of us has given birth to perfect children, alas. And children know that. Give them all the love that you have and in the end, that's all there is.

Happy Father's Day!